Sabine's First Day of Kindergarten, and Grandmom's Birthday

Sabine's first day of Kindergarten was Monday, August 24, 2015. The official, first day of school picture that was posted:



Sabine could barely sleep the night before, and was up, dressed, and ready to go bright and early. We left the house 20 minutes early to be sure to be the first ones at the bus stop.

She had me take a backpack picture:



Daddy even went in to work late so that he could see Sabine off to school on her first day. That was pretty special.



Our next door neighbor, and Sabine's dear friend, S, appeared and walked over to the bus stop with us.



There is a whole gaggle of kids, I'd say about 15, who get on the bus at our stop. It's a very festive atmosphere in the morning, with all the kids, their parent(s), siblings, and a smattering of dogs to send them all off. Sabine was excited right up until the bus pulled up, then she had a little moment of panic as other kids started getting on, but fortunately S and another 3rd grader, whom we know well, scooped Sabine up and got her to go with them on the bus, and then Sabine got to sit with S.



We were very grateful for their help, and the report from friends who walked to school was that Sabine was happy and greeting everyone she recognized from across the playground by the time the bus let them off.

Grandmom and Grandpa arrived mid-day, and were there to help greet the bus when it came back that afternoon.











Sabine had a few minutes to recover and tell us a little about her day before I had to whisk her off to gymnastics. She was definitely tired, but still very much wanted to go.

She was that much more tired when she got home from gymnastics, but she managed to rally and stay perky through dinner, and helped celebrate Grandmom's birthday that evening.

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, GRANDMOM! We love you!





All in all, it was a huge, and hugely successful day.


(As an interesting side, note, as I was asking Sabine about her answers for this sign, she struggled with a few. She could not think of JUST three things she liked to do. Soccer, swimming, and reading were the first things that came to mind. But then she remembered gymnastics and the Broncos and spending time with her family and skiing. She got frustrated, so we quickly lumped all the sports under "play and watch sports" and that was enough to convey her other interests. There was also a section for "Favorite Color" but she does not have a favorite color these days, she likes ALL the colors, and feels very strongly about that. So we had the sign changed and put "role model" in, instead of the color section, and that worked perfectly, because Jane Goodall is still an important figure in Sabine's world.)

Dog Days of Summer

Our summer is very quickly winding down, and we are squeezing every last drop out of it that we can. We celebrated cousin H's birthday at their new house:














(With our friend, L)









We went to our first Rockies game as a family, thanks to daddy's work, who hosted a BBQ, pre-game:








which was fun, but tiring, and both girls wanted to be carried back to the car. Thank goodness for daddy



We've been going out to breakfast regularly on the weekends, and often Nana, Aunt Dani, and the cousins join us:



The kids love running around outside. Sabine supervises, and has developed a game where they must all hug her to pass by.





We've had lots of playdates with friends:









Sabine went to a birthday party where she got her face painted like an arctic fox:



Aspen's been...just ducky.


[groan]

Corn has arrived at the farm around the corner.



And we picked our own!



Then we rushed it home, got it shucked:



And very much enjoyed the fruits (veggies) of our labor:





And there have been signs that the school year is fast approaching. Sabine had her last day of school, and posed for one last picture with her favorite preschool teacher, Gail, and her bestie at school.



Sabine got a fresh haircut



And we went to a meet-the-teacher hour at the elementary school. It was a bit chaotic,


(That's the back of her teacher in the red dress)

But Aspen promptly found a rocking chair and was thrilled



and Sabine very much enjoyed checking out the new classroom.



There were a couple of familiar faces from preschool, and her good friend from our neighborhood will be in her Kindergarten class, so she is just thrilled.

Last Thursday the big kids started back to school, and Sabine watched them gather at the bus stop longingly.



And Aspen watched her sister watching the big kids with just as much longing.



Mom and Dad are the only ones who don't seem to be in quite such a rush. It's an exciting time around here, for sure!

18 Months

At a year and a half, Aspen can take herself quite seriously. Her furrowed brow is actually "her" look,  it's something she's done since the day she was born, and I actually don't think it's quite as stern as it looks, it's just a default position she goes to when she's thinking.

But she is sweet and snuggly, too.



And inquisitive, she's getting more and more mobile, climbing, running, and figuring her way out through the world. Fortunately, she has a good mentor.



She can be silly and playful



...and demanding. (Daddy's apples are a favorite treat.)



It hurts her feelings more and more to be left out of the big kid games on play dates. She adores her big sister, and wants to do whatever Sabine is doing, and be wherever Sabine is. Big sister is quite indulgent, but does occasionally take a little time for herself, much to Aspen's chagrin.



One of their favorite pastimes is dress-up. Both girls love accessories, and I think Sabine is finding that the best accessory is a willing mini-me. They often have pulled out and tried on every hat and shoe in the house before 8:00 AM.



Besides Sabine, Aspen loves all things Elmo (especially Band-Aids), she loves vitamins, her stuffed goat, cheese crackers, Baby Signing Time videos, her babysitter Amanda ("DA!"), and playing in water. She and Sabine share a shower most nights, and they have a good time arranging shampoo bottles and wash cloths. Aspen's vocabulary is increasing, her new favorite word is "mine," and she is enunciating more and more. S's still give her trouble, so we haven't heard "Sabine" yet, but it's got to be coming soon.

Aspen has also recently developed a passion for rocking chairs. She will sit in one any time, anywhere. It's a good thing, in many ways, that Sabine's preschool days have come to an end, one of those reasons being the kid-sized rocking chair near the door. It's become a daily battle to get Aspen to leave that rocking chair. She's now immune to my threats of leaving her behind.



She seems to be coming out of a separation anxiety phase, she said "bye bye" and waved happily the last time we left her with a sitter, instead of crying. We rock her to sleep, we have her whole life, but just the other night I tried to sit down with her in the rocking chair and she sat up and pointed at the crib and said, "Nigh Nigh!" (night night) so I put her in the crib, fully expecting her to play for a minute or two and then cry to be picked up, but no, she just rolled over and went to sleep! (Since then she's let me rock her again, but we're wondering if it's a sign of a new phase.)

Both girls' hair seems to have gotten lighter this summer. Aspen is basically blond right now, and Sabine has lots of blond highlights. They both love being outside, and we take our three watering cans out every day. Mommy waters the flowers in the pots, Sabine waters her fairy garden and the grass, and Aspen waters the sidewalk. Everyone has fun!



It's been fun to see the girls grow and develop together. We are so happy they are so close and play so well together. It's been a good summer, and I think they are going to miss each other when Kindergarten starts on Monday!



P.S. We had Aspen's 18-month check-up a couple weeks late, but here are the official stats:

Height: 32" (51%)
Weight: 19lbs 13 oz (11%) YAY, double digits!
Head circ: 18.75" (82%)

Not too dissimilar from Sabine at that age.